


We're In This Together

by erynwen



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Character Death, Crack, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-14
Updated: 2011-05-14
Packaged: 2017-10-23 10:56:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/249519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erynwen/pseuds/erynwen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The boys find themselves in a bad Bram Stoker parody. In space.<br/>This is what my mind comes up with when I read "vampires" and "nightie". I did some last minute editing, so all mistakes are mine. Title from the song by Nine Inch Nails. Fill for the <a href="http://jim-and-bones.livejournal.com/406399.html">Vampire Weekend Challenge</a> at <span><a href="http://jim-and-bones.livejournal.com/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://jim-and-bones.livejournal.com/"><b>jim_and_bones</b></a></span>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We're In This Together

“’Come planet side with me’, you said. ‘It will be fun’, you said. ‘What could possibly go wrong’, you said. Now look at me. I’m wearing a fucking nightshirt!”  
Jim snickered, and Leonard shot him a glare.

He should have seen this coming. When had a trip to a foreign planet, one that wasn’t even charted yet, ever gone without anything exploding, someone almost dying, something even worse - or all of the above? Still, he had agreed to accompany Jim, and had not insisted on taking at least one security officer with them. Smart choices he’d made.

So they had beamed down, and of course, something went wrong with the coordinates, and they materialized right in the middle of a small village. They had scared the nearby locals to death, most of them running away, screaming.

Jim had dismissed this with a smile, had walked to one of the villagers who hadn’t fled, turning on his charm as he inquired about the local authority. Leonard had almost been able to hear his thoughts, the line he was so keen on using, but thankfully never did.  
Because if he’d said, “Take me to your leader?” Leonard would have died of shame.

It hadn’t taken the mayor, a tiny, round man of maybe fifty, long to jog up to meet them, all political platitudes and smiles, while he’d given them a tour that qualified for one of the shortest Leonard had ever been part of. And one of the weirdest.  
Wherever he had looked, he hadn’t been able to shake off the feeling that he was part of a cheesy horror novel from the late 1800s Jim liked so much that half of his quarters were filled with what Leonard could only call badly written porn.

So after fifteen minutes of walking on an unpaved “street” that had actually been dirt covered with even more dirt, and looking at tiny, old fashioned houses and watching people pull ancient looking wheelbarrows around with apparently no actual reason, they had entered the local pub. Leonard had to keep from taking a step backward to get out again, because with all the garlic hanging from the ceiling or being attached to every available pillar he’d feared he would suffocate within a minute. But all his diplomatic lessons at the academy had not been a total waste, so he had sat down with his back to the window, had tried to breathe as flatly as he could, and had let Jim do the talking.

“So, what is that place over there?” Jim had asked at one point, while gesturing out the window. Leonard had looked over his shoulder and his scowl had deepened.  
On a hill nearby stood what could only be called a spooky mansion. Leonard did not believe in ghosts or anything like that, but he half expected to see someone standing behind one of the windows, even if they were dark. He had shivered slightly as he turned to the mayor.  
“Oh, zis? It is an old house, cursed house. You don’t want to go up zere. Ze devil himself lives up zere.”  
Leonard had raised an eyebrow and Jim had grinned from one ear to the other. Leonard knew that grin, and it didn’t bode well.

Half an hour later they had been climbing the hill. Leonard had been close to telling Jim that no way in hell was he doing this without any kind of backup. Then he’d remembered their last mission on Syko 6, and had grudgingly followed his captain. He hadn’t wanted to be called a coward. Again.  
Still grumbling quietly under his breath, Leonard had been tossed into another cliché that made his head hurt. One minute they had been bathed in sunshine, slightly sweating, and the next, there had been a howling wind that chilled them to the bones, despite the two layers of clothing they had been wearing. Leonard had started to shiver and had faltered in his steps.

“You’re sure this is a good idea, Jim?”  
“Oh, come on, Bones. It’s only wind.” Jim had turned to open the gate to the mansion, and the heavy metal had swung open with a loud creak. Leonard had rolled his eyes and had let himself be dragged down the walk and inside by Jim.

The entrance hall had been empty except for uncountable spider webs. Leonard had still been trying to adjust his eyes to the little light in the hall coming in through the windows, when Jim had begun calling out for whomever he hoped to find here.

When they had searched every room they could find on the ground floor without so much as an answer, Jim had turned to his friend, grinning.  
“You know, I’m almost disappointed. I was hoping for a small paranormal encounter.”  
“Very funny. Can we go back now? I’m freezing!”  
“Ah, poor Bones. OK, let’s head back to the village.”

Jim had turned around, and left to find the entrance hall again. Relieved that for once it had been easy to talk sense into his friend, Leonard had followed him. And had walked right into him.  
“Jim, what the fuck…?”  
“It’s dark.”  
“Really? And I thought the lights would turn on by themselves…”  
“No, I mean outside.”

With a frown, Leonard had looked outside the window. Which had been hard to see in the first place, the entrance hall had been so dark.  
“But, we have only been here what? Half an hour?”

Leonard had felt Jim’s shrug more than he saw it, his shoulders brushing against Leonard’s upper arm.  
“Apparently, the days are shorter here. Anyway, you know what this means, don’t you?”  
Leonard hadn’t needed to see Jim’s face to know he was grinning again. He had been able to hear it.

“That we beam back to the Enterprise now and come back tomorrow?”  
“Well, we could do that. But that wouldn’t be nearly as fun! Besides, if there is a ghost living here, it is more likely to come out at night, right? I suggest we stay here and find out. Gives us the chance to explore the rest of the house.”

Leonard had huffed out a breath. “Right. You do exactly that, and I sleep in my warm bed back in my quarters.”  
“Bones.”  
“Don’t even try it.” Leonard had fumbled for his communicator, flicked it open, and had already been fiddling with the controls when he felt Jim’s hand on his. Jim had been very close then, his breath warm on Leonard’s face.

“You know, we could fight over this now.” Leonard had felt his friend shift in the dark, pressing against him. “Or I could…” Jim had let his other hand trail down Leonard’s arm, had taken half a step backward – and had snatched the communicator from Leonard’s hands.  
“… take this and turn it off.”  
“Jim!”  
“Bones. Don’t make me write you up for insubordination again.”  
Leonard had crossed his arms over his chest and glared at that. For five seconds before he’d realized Jim couldn’t see him. He’d dropped his arms and sighed in resignation.  
“Fine, be like that. Just you wait for your next physical exam.”

The had found a candelabra somewhere, a huge brass one, almost too heavy to carry, and had roamed the first floor in the dark in search of a bedroom. Leonard had been shivering again when they finally made their way to one. Leonard wasn’t sure why, but Jim had started rummaging through a dresser next to what had to be the tiniest bed in the whole universe. Leonard had tried not to picture the two of them together on the bed, when Jim had exclaimed a “Hah,” waving around the silly piece of clothing Leonard was wearing now.

A nightshirt. Ankle-length, with a frilly neck.

“You know, it looks good on you,” Jim smirked.  
“Oh, shut the hell up!”

Jim shrugged, and lay down on the mattress. He was wearing a nightshirt, too, had talked Leonard into this by shucking his clothes and wriggling into it, daring Leonard not to do the same. Now, Leonard could see Jim’s calves as the nightshirt rucked up while Jim was trying to get comfortable on the hard mattress, and swallowed around the lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat.  
”You’re coming to bed?” Jim asked, batting his lashes.

“If you think I’m getting into there with you, you’re crazier than I thought.”  
Jim only grinned at that, stretching out leisurely, showing off even more of his legs. Leonard tried hard not to look, and failed.

“What about the evil spirit that haunts the house? Aren’t you afraid?”  
“Yeah, because made-up supernatural beings make me wet my pants.”

Glaring at his laughing friend, Bones took the candelabra from the dresser and stomped from the room, in search of another bedroom. It was a huge mansion, and they hadn't been to the rest of the house yet. There had to be at least one more bedroom, somewhere.  
He didn’t like the thought of spending the night alone, but if he had to choose between a ghost that might or might not exist, or sleeping next to Jim and trying to hide the hard-on he was now willing to go away already, he would always take the ghost.

When he reached the stairs, he squinted into the darkness. He heaved a sigh, lifted his nightshirt with one hand, and held the candelabra away from him to see where he was going. He felt stupid. He was glad Jim couldn’t see him like that.

On the next floor, he checked door after closed door, cursing under his breath.  
Outside, the wind was howling around the mansion, and rain was pouring down heavily, coating the windows with water. When a bolt of lightning flashed, illuminating the corridor for a second, Leonard shivered. If this had been a horror movie, he would already be shouting at the leading role to turn the fuck around and get back to his friend.

But he moved on, intent on finding himself a place to sleep. He would not go back to Jim, would not admit he was scared shitless.  
A noise further down the corridor jerked him from his thoughts. Leonard hesitated for a moment, then he heard it again. It was a moan.  
Curious, he walked on, lifting the candelabra.

“Hello?” he called out, hating how nervous he sounded.  
In front of the very last door on the corridor, he heard another moan. A small voice in his head told him to run, but he ignored it. He was a doctor, dammit, and it sounded like someone was in pain.

So he turned the doorknob, a small part of him almost hoping the door was locked like the rest up here, but it opened easily to reveal a dark room. Rain was coming in through the open window, and a cold wind hit Leonard in the face.  
In the dark, he could see a man hunched forward, heard a slurping noise. He took a cautious step forward.  
“Sir, are you ok?”

The man turned around, and in a flash of light from outside the window, Leonard could see pointed teeth and blood. A lot of it, on the man’s face, hands, and clothes.  
Leonard blinked stupidly, not able to move. What the flying fuck?

This, his brain delivered, could not be true. He was imagining things, spurred on by Jim’s constant references to ghosts, and the fact that the place they had landed in was some kind of space Transylvania.  
He took a shaking breath, still not moving, when he heard a snarl from the man across the room, and the tiny voice in his head screamed at him, get out of here you jerk, this is a vampire, what are you waiting for, run, godammit.

He was still not quite ready to believe that voice, but then he saw the man getting ready to pounce. Without thinking, Leonard bolted from the room, down the stairs, back into Jim’s room, trying not to trip over his nightshirt while he clung to the candelabra. The heavy door almost hit the wall when Leonard pushed it open, shouting, “Jim!”

He heard a soft snore and a grumble, but Jim did not wake up. Leonard jumped onto the bed, gripped Jim’s shoulder, and shook it as hard as he could.  
“Jim, wake up!”  
“Wassamadder?”  
“Jim, we have to get out of here.”

Jim sat up under the covers and looked at Leonard, blinking the sleep from his eyes.  
“Why? What happened?”  
“There’s a vampire upstairs.”  
Jim quirked an eyebrow.  
“A vampire?”  
“Yes, a vampire, or whatever they call it down here. You know, long black coat, fangs, drinks blood?”  
“You’re kidding, right? Look, if you really want to go back to the Enterprise that badly, by all means, go ahead, but let me sleep, ok?” Jim asked as he reached for the communicator on the nightstand.  
“Jim, I’m serious, goddammit.”  
“Bones, come on. This is…”

But Leonard never found out what Jim wanted to say, as he watched his best friends eyes widen. He turned around. There, in the doorway, stood the vampire. His fangs were bared, and he hissed at them, like an angry snake. Leonard was paralyzed again, could do nothing but blink. Next to him, Jim cursed under his breath.

“Shit! How am I supposed to shoot this thing with my weapon over there?”  
This made Leonard look past the creature he always thought could not possibly exist. There, on the dresser, were their clothes and their phasers. Right next to the snarling, blood-dripping horror movie villain.  
“Fuck!”

He felt Jim grab around behind him, while he watched the vampire, who licked his lips, but did nothing else. As if he couldn’t decide who to bite first.  
Jim was busy fiddling with buttons, and then Leonard heard the slight static from the communicator.  
“Kirk to Enterprise. Two to beam up. Pronto!”

Bones didn’t hear the answer, didn’t hear anything as he watched the vampire go into motion, striding through the room with an eerie speed, almost too fast to see, and the vampire pounced, landing on the mattress. Leonard felt Jim bump against him, heard him yell, saw the vampire’s mouth on Jim’s wrist. Then he was shoved against Jim’s leg, couldn’t see what was going on, heard a thump, and finally felt the familiar pull of dematerialization.

When his body came back together, he let out a shaky breath. The light in the transporter room was almost too bright for his eyes. He turned to check on Jim, who was smiling at him brightly.  
“Shit, Bones! A vampire. Wait till I tell Spock.”  
Leonard shook his head, not knowing whether he should hit his friend or laugh along with him.

“Show me your wrist,” he demanded.  
Jim extended it. There was blood, but no wound. Blood from the vampire, not Jim’s. Leonard let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding.  
“I should take you to Sickbay.”  
“Bones, come on. I’m fine. Really. Don’t fuzz.”  
Leonard rolled his eyes, but let go of Jim’s wrist.  
“Fine. At your own risk.”

Jim jumped from the transporter platform, already filling Scotty in with what had just happened.  
Leonard sighed. He was so done with going down planet side just for fun.  
He went to his quarters. He had to shed this stupid nightshirt.  
When he was again dressed in his Standard pants and undershirt, he sat down on his bed and tried to make sense of what the fuck they’d just gone through.  
He didn’t come far when he heard a chime from his door.

“Come in.”  
It was Jim, grinning widely.  
“Hey. Just wanted to see if you’re OK.”  
Leonard got up, facing his friend.  
“Yeah, I’m fine. How about you?”  
“Better than ever.”

They looked at each other, and Leonard resisted the temptation to grab his tricoder and scan Jim from head to toe.  
Instead, he took a step forward, unthinkingly, then another, until he was right in front of Jim, mere inches away. He couldn’t say why, he only knew he had to be close to Jim, had to feel his eyes on him, his breath, his hands.

Jim was looking at him, his eyes so blue they almost hurt, and traced a finger along his jaw.  
A part of Leonard’s brain told him that something was wrong, that he should get away now, but he ignored it, didn’t want to move, lost in Jim’s gaze.  
Jim’s arm came up around his shoulders, pressing him close. Leonard could hear the blood rushing in his ears as Jim’s face came even closer.  
Then Jim’s lips were on his neck, and he gasped as they moved against his skin, making his knees weak.

Leonard wanted to say something, but lost his train of thought when Jim’s tongue slid over his pulse, drawing a moan from him instead. He felt teeth grazing his neck, sighed in pleasure, but then he felt something sharp, and as the voice in his head telling him to run became louder, he felt his skin break, felt Jim suck at the blood welling from the wound.

“Jim, what…?”  
Jim tightened his grip, sucked again. Leonard started to struggle, but couldn’t get out of Jim’s hold.  
“Jim…”  
He started to get woozy, and shoved Jim hard in the chest. He might as well have tried to move a mountain with a fly swatter.

Leonard let out a whine as Jim shoved him against the wall and pulled harder on his neck. His arms dropped weakly to his sides as his eyes slid shut.  
He could feel his thoughts slipping away from him as he gave in to the sensation of Jim pinned against him, solid as rock, pulling his life from him.

He started to drift, and his mind came back to the times he had been fantasizing about this, only that Jim had been sucking on something completely different then.  
He felt the urge to laugh, but then Jim gave a particular hard tug, and everything went black.


End file.
